International Equivalence for Personnel Certification

• 21 Jun 2019

India’s national accreditation body, the National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB), has secured international equivalence for its accreditation programme for personnel certification bodies in the annual meeting of the Asia Pacific Accreditation Cooperation in Singapore on 20th June, 2019.

• NABCB signed the Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) of the Asia Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (APAC) based on the international standard, ISO/IEC 17024.
• ISO/IEC 17024 specifies criteria for the operation of a Personnel Certification Bodies (also known as a certification body for persons).
  
  • Personnel Certification Bodies are the one which confirm the competence of an individual to perform a specified service ( of electrician, welder etc.) or duty through an issue of a certificate.
• With this recognition, NABCB hopes to facilitate export of Indian services and skills into the world market by attesting that persons are certified following international standards by the certifying bodies.
• This would support many professionals in India, especially those who do not have formal education or certificate programme. Any person carrying ISO/IEC 17024 certificate with NABCB logo will be recognized internationally.

NABCB

NABCB, a constituent board of Quality Council of India, an autonomous body attached to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, is responsible for accreditation of certification/inspection bodies as per applicable international standards under an international system of equivalence.

Asia Pacific Accreditation Cooperation

• The Asia Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (APAC) was established on 1^st January 2019.
• Its primary role is to manage and expand a mutual recognition arrangement (MRA) among accreditation bodies in the Asia Pacific region.
• The MRA facilitates the acceptance of conformity assessment results (e.g. test reports, test certificates, inspection reports, and certification) across the region and with other regions around the world.
• APAC is recognized by the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) as one of four APEC Specialist Regional Bodies (SRBs) that support the work of the APEC Sub-Committee on Standards and Conformance.